Thomas Clouse

A man who once licensed foster care homes for the state pleaded guilty today to two federal counts of distribution of child pornography.

A Stevens County judge sentenced a convicted gun thief Tuesday to 125 years in prison – a term that’s about 100 years longer than the prison terms given to three others for a murder committed using one of the stolen guns. Superior Court Judge Pat Monasmith sentenced Christopher G. Nichols, 27, to 125 years in prison, despite the fact that he had no role in the 2011 killing of Colville resident Gordon Feist.

Attorneys for a North Idaho girl have agreed to settle a civil suit alleging she was molested by a man who worked as substance abuse counselor and coach at the Paschal Sherman Indian School, which is operated in Omak, Wash., by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. The suit was filed last year relating to an incident in November 2008, when the girl was attending the school and staying in an on-campus dormitory. The suit names Clinton J. Nicholson, who was 44 at the time. He no longer works at the school, according to his attorney, Mark Carroll.

The secretive query of jurors who convicted former Spokane police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. will be made public after a federal judge decided Thursday to unseal court records. U.S. District Court Judge Fred Van Sickle said he would open the files, pending some limited work to black out the names of the jurors, following a motion to intervene by attorneys representing The Spokesman-Review.

The Spokane police officer whose daughter accidentally shot herself in the leg with his service weapon this spring will serve a three-week unpaid suspension following an internal investigation. Officer Barry O’Connell failed to comply with department policy requiring officers to secure their duty weapons at home and with other rules that prohibit officers from acting willfully, carelessly or negligently with city property, Interim Chief Scott Stephens said in a news release Wednesday.

The Spokesman-Review must provide information that could identify an anonymous reader who typed a disparaging online comment about the chairwoman of the Kootenai County Republican Party in February, an Idaho judge ruled Tuesday. The attorney for the chairwoman, Tina Jacobson, subpoenaed the identities of three Huckleberries Online readers who commented under assumed names below a photograph featuring Jacobson.

The Spokesman-Review must provide information that could identify an anonymous reader who typed a disparaging online comment about the chairwoman of the Kootenai County Republican Party in February, an Idaho judge ruled Tuesday.

Spokane Police are currently searching for two women following a stabbing today near Browne's Addition.

Separate crashes north and south of Newport Sunday morning left one man dead and a woman injured.

Spokane Fire Department investigators continue to inquire about the suspicious fire of a home that was unoccupied and for sale when it caught burst into flames early Sunday.

A federal lawsuit has been filed by the parents of a man shot and killed by Spokane police in 2009 after he attacked a woman with a skateboard and stabbed a dog. The suit alleges that either Spokane police Officer Kellee Gately or Officer Jason Curtis fired the fatal bullet – testing apparently was not able to determine the gun of origin – after 23-year-old Jason Poss had already been shot once, knocked down and disarmed of his knife.